Building Control Journal

Building Control Journal: September–October 2017

In this issue, the spotlight falls on defects discovered in 17 Scottish schools, which, as Michael Dignan points out, are a salutary reminder of building owners’ responsibility for ensuring regulatory compliance.

Elsewhere, Laura Grant argues that sustainable drainage systems or “SuDS” offer an environmentally positive way to improve resilience to surface water flooding, although negative perceptions about cost and land take still need to be overcome, while Cate Clooney and Mark Jones explain how full-frame structural fire engineering enables practical analysis of steel-frame and composite concrete slab structures.

In other pieces, Sarah Chilcott looks at why Approved Documents need to adapt in an increasingly digital sector, Michael Morgan reflects on the impact of Part M changes on accessibility, and Carrie de Silva tells the inspirational story of Irene Barclay. The first woman to qualify as a surveyor, Barclay did pioneering work in social housing and slums and joined the Valuation Division of the Surveyors’ Institution in 1922 – yet almost 100 years later, only 14% of RICS members are women.

As always, I welcome your thoughts and ideas about these topics, the wider sector and the journal itself, so please do get in touch with me.

Barney works with professionals to produce the Building Surveying Journal and Building Control Journal which support building surveyors in the technical and professional aspects of their day-to-day work.